Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia recently went off about teams allegedly tanking in the NBA, calling it “losing behavior.” With tanking emerging as a hot topic in the league, it sounds like Ishbia has at least one supporter in Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob.
While discussing the Warriors' situation this season, Lacob made it clear that his team is not attempting to tank whatsoever, according to Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard. He acknowledged Ishbia's comments and firmly declared that Golden State is not an organization that will ever tank under his ownership.
“I saw where another owner came out today and spoke on [tanking], Mat Ishbia,” said Lacob. “I think, you know, it is not in my DNA, nor in this organization's DNA, to do that… It's not a good look. This is sports. We're supposed to play to win. And that's just not a way I would be comfortable, ever, trying to improve our team.”
Joe Lacob is a believer in the idea that his team, along with others in the league, should be competing their best for the fans who pay tickets to come watch their games and buy their merchandise. Overall, he wants to put the best product on the court, even if the club is experiencing some issues, like the Jimmy Butler injury, for example.
“Look, this season matters to the fans who bought tickets for this year,” Lacob said. “Hopefully, they'll be our fans next year as well, obviously. I think you should always be trying to win and do the best you can. We've been dealt a couple of tough cards here right now. And our expectations probably shouldn't be as high as they were. I thought, with Jimmy, since we acquired him, we were the fourth best record in the league, I think.”
Butler is out for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign due to a torn ACL injury. Once he was ruled out, the Warriors had every excuse to go all-in on tanking this season. Instead, the front office traded for Kristaps Porzingis, giving the roster a huge boost in the front court, which could ultimately lead to massive success if it pays off.
We'll see how it plays out, though, as the Warriors are without Stephen Curry for the time being due to a knee injury of his own. Curry is expected to eventually return, but he will miss at least the next four games after having already missed Thursday's 121-110 loss to the Boston Celtics.
